Back to the Beginning
by Kazi-Kun
Summary: For Thou Hath Committed Crimes Against Humanity In His Unholy Name, Thou Art Forbidden To Be Worthy Of Her Light. A phrase that condemns Hotaru in one life but sets her free in another.
1. Something Wrong

My first posted Dark-Hunter Novels/Sailor Moon crossover! MWAHAHAHAHA!

* * *

Dark Hunter Novels

Sailor Moon

"Back to the Beginning"

_For Thou Hath Committed Crimes Against Humanity In His Unholy Name,_

_Thou Art Forbidden To Be Worthy Of Her Light_

Hotaru stared at her computer screen with less than feigned interest as her teacher continued to drone on about the historical prevalence to the new fad of astrology and paganism. The phrase written on the board wasn't as new to her as it was to her classmates. Those words were engraved in Lunarian on the gold bangle on her right wrist. If Hotaru didn't need this class to pass, she would've dropped it months ago. But since the board members at her school were complete imbeciles, the last of the First Generation was bored beyond death in her historical theology class.

Sitting in the last row of the middle segment of the college lecture hall, Hotaru was quite recognizable in her low rider jeans, spaghetti strap tank top, short sleeve over shirt that was open, black work boots and sweatshirt tied around her hips. The cuffs on her wrists and the few necklaces she wore with the scattered rings and piercings added to the sort of look she had evolved into after a decade of fighting and living with Haruka. Her black hair was swept into a semi ponytail and her purple eyes were framed by oval glasses with her lips coated in the Mistress 9 lipstick color that Hotaru had spent a mere 3 minutes to create the one tube.

Her ever present backpack sat at her feet and inside happened to be just about everything she considered truly important in her life. That included a solid white little life that crawled out of the open pocket and scaled her pant leg to curl up in her lap. Hotaru put a hand on top of it and stroked its silky soft fur with a couple fingers. If her teacher knew she had her little friend with her again, she was going to lose her red-eyed ferret forever and then wind up at the dean's office…again.

Yeah, that was definitely something she needed and yes-she was being sarcastic. The dean had had it with her since she came to this multinational boarding school-also known as an American College. Louisiana State University-LSU Tigers-was as "low profile" as Hotaru could get. Gods of her Father Star, how she HATED Mamoru and his damn power trips.

_Gods, I need a cigarette…_ Hotaru groaned to herself as her teacher's droning bore in to her skull with each monotone word he uttered._ This man seriously needs to get laid and laid soon. He's almost as bad as Doctor Alexander who can piss me off in 5 minutes or less. And now that guy should've been a stay-at-home hubby._

The bell finally rang and Hotaru was thanking every deity in her Star's pantheon. The _last_ thing that she needed was for her to be trapped in this room for another hour. Hotaru closed down her laptop and put it in her bag as her ferret scampered up to her shoulder. Shouldering her backpack, Hotaru left class and scratched her ferret under the chin as she headed to her car. All she wanted to do was go home and crash for the rest of the day until she had to go on patrol later that night.

As she crossed the quad, Hotaru felt a prickling along the back of her neck that made her think of the Sun for some reason. Like any Solarians survived the Emperor Apollo's demise. They all died after he did if they didn't breed themselves to death with the Gaeans-creating Terrans, Venusians, and so on. Only Saturian blood-_her_ blood had remained pure of that damned bloodline.

Hotaru tightened her grip on her shoulder strap and sped up her pace to her car. The black sports car was parked on the curb, waiting for her to press the unlock button and climb in. The lights flashed and the locks popped once she was close enough. Opening the passenger door, Hotaru deposited her bag on the seat and let her ferret scuttle to the dashboard.

"Careful, Kyu-chan. You don't want to fall." Hotaru lightly reminded her furry friend as it moved fluidly to lay over the curve of the steering wheel. The faint sensation of love and passion shivered up her spine as she closed the door.

"Hotaru!" Oh, she knew that voice. It was Julian Alexander-her Ancient Civilizations Professor. She turned and saw him jogging over to her. He slowed to a stop and gave her a smile. It was meant to be defenseless but his aura said he wanted something.

"Can I help you, Dr. Alexander? I'd like to get home to do my homework so I can get it out of the way." Hotaru tried to keep her impatience and peevishness out of her voice and body language but when dealing with this guy it was hard to do.

"Oh, of course. I was just wondering how many languages you knew." Dr. Alexander had an interest in her multilingual talents ever since she muttered something in ancient Greek under her breath in his class. None of the students had noticed that it was soldier slang from that time period-a version that had been lost to time-but for some reason, it made her professor believe he had the right to bug her about what other things she knew.

"Why does it matter?" She asked, leaning against her car, her arms crossed. "It's not like it interferes with my assignments. I get all my work done and in by the next class. It doesn't really matter."

" 'At least this isn't as bad as Carthage'." He said as she turned to walk around the front of her car. Hotaru stopped and looked at him, arching a brow. "That's what you said in class, isn't it? Is my class really that boring or do you feel like you must comment like a critic that had lived during that time?"

"It's a mix of both actually." Hotaru crossed her arms and tilted her pelvis, not at all pleased that he was still trying to bother her.

"Is that so? Then tell me, where did you learn Ancient Greek slang used by soldiers of that time?" He had his arms crossed as well and a similar tilt to his pelvis that said he was as peeved with this as she was.

"I did a lot of things I'm not proud of and, as you can see, I'm still paying for it all. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to go home and sleep the rest of this really boring day away. I've got class tonight and I don't want to be dead through it." She didn't need to say that her bangle was part of her price. Anyone with a Sailor Crystal knew what it meant and that meant she was avoided and left alone. Apparently the Doc didn't read Lunarian. It would've been easier if he did.

Julian sighed heavily. She was one of his best students and one of his biggest headaches. She made Acheron seem too chatty. "Look, Hotaru. I know I'm only your teacher and not your father-"

"Then leave me the hell alone." Hotaru shot icily at him, taking him by surprise. She got behind the wheel and displaced Kyu-chan before she started the engine. Julian reached for the door and the locks suddenly engaged. He tugged on the handle a couple times to signal to her to unlock the door but she merely threw the gear in reverse, backed out of her spot then put the car in drive and half heartedly peeled out. She was trying to escape him and it only made Julian groan in frustration.

Why did she always do that? She didn't like him but why? He loved her. Her papers were amazingly detailed even if she didn't appear to be paying attention during class. Hell, she even got all of her assignments done over night when they should take about a week or longer. And as far as he knew, she never once stepped foot in the library to do research. All she did when she went in there was to have a quiet place to read.

Julian would just have to wait until tonight to continue their conversation. As he turned to head back to his classroom, Julian felt as if someone was watching him. He looked around and saw a yellow convertible not too far away with the top up and tinted windows, making it impossible for Julian to look inside. For some reason, he just knew that car's driver was after Hotaru. He had to call Ash and see what would happen if the car would be in her future.

Quickly memorizing the license plate, Julian walked fast back to his classroom as he dialed Ash's number. The car peeled out and followed Hotaru's direction down the road, making the half god very uneasy. He could feel it down in his soul.

Something was just not right here.

* * *

I do believe 'Taru's getting followed.

**Acheron:** Quit being a Spaz, Kazuma.

No one asked you, Atlantean.


	2. Poisonous Blood

Oh, how I wish I didn't get black mailed into this.

**Artemis:** You got a problem with me, Crunchy?

(Sweatdrop) For the last time, Copper Curls, it's 'Kunoichi'. I'm Japanese--Like Dragon's mother.

**Dragon:** I take it she screwed up your title again?

How do you let her take advantage of you like that? It's pitiful--Like Nick.

**Nick:** HEY!

* * *

Hotaru changed into her scrubs and pulled her hair into a flop over bun. She wasn't in a good mood and being called in by the medical examiner, her boss, didn't help improve it all. She gave Kyu-chan a partially opened container and closed her locker door, making sure her combination lock was screwed up enough for no one to figure it out, and left the locker room after reapplying her lipstick. She entered the morgue expecting the coroner that signed her pay checks but that wasn't who she saw. She froze, dead in her tracks.

"Surrounded by death and corpses…why am I not surprised to find you working here?"

"What do you want, Haruka? I've done nothing wrong. I have a job where I'm never going anywhere and I'm going to a State University as a nobody immigrant student. I am as low key as I could get." Hotaru said, unhappily. "I got an used car, a nice and cheap apartment, a part time job, classes both day and night—what more do you guys want from me?"

"You out of the damn papers." Haruka growled, crossing her arms.

"I am _not_ in the papers. I have done everything you have put on my shoulders." Hotaru denied, being defensive.

"Don't lie! Sailor Saturn's been in the papers and on the news every month since you came to America! Knock it the fuck off!" The sandy blond shouted, the sound bouncing off the walls. "Quit playing the hero! You were never one of us to begin with! Stop trying to save the world! This isn't the comic books! This is real life!"

"How long have _you_ been alive? I've lived for centuries! If this was the comics books-I'd have some sort of weakness and that would've been exploited and I'd finally be dead!" Hotaru snapped, her body tensing with restraint. "But no! This is real life where I only have two outs that I cannot exploit! I'll live until you're all dead and then you'll still have me bound to preserving your pathetic life forces and resurrecting your imperfect Terran forms. I will never be free of you fools."

Haruka was about to retort when the nightshift assistant, David Maxwell, came in. His chestnut brown hair was naturally slicked back from his hat and his dazzling mossy hazel eyes were the same as they were from that morning from when he sat next to her in Dr. Alexander's Ancient Civilizations class. He looked up from his clipboard, his eyes locking in on Haruka instantly. Hotaru was always soft spoken under normal circumstances, like David was since sound carried in the large empty chamber.

"Uh, Tokyo, who's this? She ain't a corpse." David was from New York, coming to Louisiana to avoid his anal parents. LSU was the perfect school for his education. "Or is she bothering you? A San Francisco groupie?"

"More like San Fran stalker." Hotaru told him in a low tone. David was 6 foot 5 and only 23. He worked out and lifted weights to stay at the peek of his strength. After all, corpses were a lot dead weight. "I bumped in to her in Little Tokyo. She won't leave me be. Mind showing her the way out, Italy?"

He set his clipboard down and cracked his knuckles. "Yeah, Tokyo. I'll be more than happy to kick this bitch to the curb for you. Just don't tell the boss man. My old man record could come to bite me in the ass."

"Aren't you glad you take after your mother?" Hotaru asked backing up as David strode forward, standing up straight.

"You know it." He grabbed the front of Haruka's dark blue shirt and gold colored sports jacket. "You got to leave, lady. No one's allowed in here except for who we say an' tonight's corpses and co-workers only."

David threw Haruka out and came back into the morgue, b-lining for their little coffee-break room area. He poured himself some coffee and then poured Hotaru some as she leaned up against the wall next to it. He mixed in cream and sugar for the both of them and handed her the cup he had made for her.

"Thanks, David." Hotaru took the warm cup and sipped the still hot liquid. It didn't scald her tongue since David knew how to make coffee just right.

"You know, Firefly, I didn't take Japanese through high school and college just to be given that 'from Little Tokyo' BS." David pointed out gently. "She had an accent that was native Tokyo, like you do when you speak in Japanese."

"It's a long story in a book I want to keep closed until I can find a secure enough lock." David put his hand on her shoulder like a big brother would. He knew better to dredge up her past. It had something to do with that gold bracelet she wore 24/7 and it seemed very painful for her. "So, what are you doing here? I know the Doc's sick but it's only work for one tonight."

"Your technology class got cancelled?" He looked at Hotaru as she nodded slowly, looking into her murky drink. "Aw, Firefly, I'm sorry. I know you love that class. I just got in from my botany class, to tell you the truth and my cell phone died on my way home yesterday morning so I'm SOL."

Hotaru sighed heavily. "Why don't we just hang ourselves, D? It would get everything over with."

"Yeah, but then we'd be urn residents on the Doc's shelf and we'd never get out of this place." Hotaru knew he had a point. It had been a serious question once upon a time but the Doc had turned it into a joke and thus it was used to lighten the mood by both the part timers and the coroner.

A funny feeling played over Hotaru's nerves. "Uh, David?"

"Yeah, Firefly?" David asked, sipping his coffee.

"I think we're about to be in a lot of trouble."

David never took her feelings for granted. She had saved his life when a dirty bomb had nearly killed him. The only reason why he was here today was because Hotaru had warned him that something was wrong, that if he didn't wait, he was going to be dead. How right she had been.

"Shit! Get down!" David dropped his cup and tackled Hotaru into the ground, his body shielding hers. Her coffee spilled onto the ground and her cup rolled in a circle, bumping the toe of the boot of a man who had fired a handgun with a silencer. He was blond with sunglasses and dressed like a biker.

"And here I was hoping to just get the male out of the way." The blond said as he stood over them, his gun pointed at them. "On your feet, both of you." David got up first, then Hotaru, their arms up in surrender. "Now, to do what I had started to do." The barrel went to David's forehead and her classmate's brains was splattered on the wall behind them. "Now, on to you, pretty girl."

"Oh, my God…David…" Hotaru's hands flew to cover her mouth as David's body collapsed onto the ground, his eyes wide in shock. The man grabbed the front of her scrubs and jerked her to be closer to him. He was close enough to kiss now but Hotaru had never gone for guys with guns or for those who made her feel like a Solarian really had survived.

Suddenly, he tensed and let go of her, letting her land on her butt at his feet. He exploded into a cloud of gold dust that fell on her and onto the floor. A knife landed on the ground with a clatter.

"Oh, shit. I didn't mean to get you in the dust cloud." A younger man was only by the tables and he jogged over to check on her. His callused hands and fingers lifted her up to her feet and dusted her off with a rough gentleness. "Are you okay? He didn't hurt you did he?"

"N-no, I'm fine, b-but David, my co-worker…" Hotaru tried to look down at her fallen friend but her rescuer gently gripped her chin as he dusted the gold dust off her cheeks and hair.

"It's okay, he's gone to a much better place. Saving you sent him to the Fields. You were his great saving grace." He assured her. "But you shouldn't've seen me dust that daimon. I accidentally chased him in here. When I leave, all you will remember is that David was shot and you went into shock, suppressing the memories." He looked into her eyes, the swirling silver classing with pools of amethyst. His eyes told her of regret, of suffering, of long, hard trials. He kissed her forehead. "I pray this doesn't do lasting damage to your future. I pray to the gods that you'll have a long happy life."

Hotaru felt an odd surge in her mind as he gently held her chin. "What are you doing to me?"

"Shhh, little one. It'll be over soon." He told her softly, like a father would. Hotaru felt her body grow heavy and her knees collapse beneath her.

"…Titan…" She mumbled as she dropped to the floor.

0-0-0

Acheron felt bad about knocking the coroner's assistant out using telepathy but he didn't want her to suffer, looking at her friend David's body. His chase had knocked his sunglasses from his face since something blocked his powers somehow. As he turned to leave, the sensation of an ancient power zinged up his spine as he heard her utter one word: "Titan".

A snarl made Ash turn to face the girl but something was rising out of her shadow. Acheron hadn't expected to see something so old coming out of someone so young.

"Nice Arithian feline. I didn't hurt her. I just didn't want her to suffer." Ash said, trying to calm the beast. A second beast rose up, a canine this time. "Oh, shit…I am screwed…" The feline resembled a panther with large bat wings and a dragon head and neck for a tail. The canine was more of a shark and wolf mix with large vein filled wings that were like long swordfish spines. "You two are going to rip me apart before I even get to the doors…yeah, and me without my powers…"

The canine's fin wings collapsed against its back, its tail dropping as it turned back to sniff and lick the cheek of the girl. It whimpered and glanced back at the feline. Did Ash do lasting damage to her? No, he couldn't have…could he?

_"I can't wake her up…Titan, we're using too much power. I have to return to her."_ A cool, strong male voice said, canine nudging the girl again. The feline looked back at the canine.

_"I cannot take this one down on my own with her unable to wake up. I need you out here with me, Mimas."_ The feline, Titan, argued back. _"Without her conscious, I must rely on the reserve power of the Castle and that could drop it out of orbit and she will die. I cannot risk that."_

_"She is my Chimera's companion. I will not lose the last proof of Morva's existence!"_ Mimas slipped back into the girl's shadow, disappearing.

_"Mimas!"_ Titan was distracted and Acheron took his chance-he grabbed the scruff of her neck…and then the dragon head bit him. _"Keep your filthy hands off of me! You hurt my Chimera! I ought to rip your throat out!"_

Titan's body began to dissolve as the girl started coughing, her skin turning gray and her veins a dark blue, showing through her skin. Only one race could be poisoned by his blood, could have that reaction-the Arithian race and he was killing the survivor. Titan dissolved in to a black mist and fled back to her shadow. Ash wrapped his hand in a piece of his shirt then scooped the Arithian girl, holding her against his lifeless body against his own.

"Alexion! Alexion-get me out of here! My powers don't work!"

* * *

**Alexion:** So, that's how it happened...

**Julian:** You have got to be kidding...

**Kyrian:** Ash can't use his powers? I didn't honestly see that coming.

**Nick:** (pops knuckles) About time. I'm kicking his ass.

**Ash:** Now, Kaz, that wasn't fair.

Gimme Styxx and I'll turn it towards your favor.

**Ash:** What?!

Hey, it's either you or your evil twin. Take your pick.

**Ash:** ...I'll talk to Hades...


	3. Letting the Dead Die

You gonna gimme your brother yet?

**Acheron:** Negotiations take time, Squirt.

Hey, I'm the one who could kill you off in my story!

**Savitar:** Damn! I like this one! She's a keeper!

**Acheron:** Stay out of this, Sav!

* * *

Alexion heard Acheron's call and brought him home. He hadn't expect his master to have company. "Uh, boss…"

"Not now. I got bit by a beast called Titan and now this Arithian girl is dying because Atlantean blood is poison to their race." Ash hustled to his room and laid her on his bed. Alexion stayed in stride with him the entire way. "Had I put two and two together earlier, when she felt me mess around in her head-then I wouldn't be responsible for ending one of the most victimized races in existence forever."

"It's not your fault, Acheron. I was the same way." Alexion reminded. He tilted his head, his eyes closed. "There's a ferret in a locker down at the morgue and it's worried as hell. Should I go get it?"

"Huh? Yeah-go ahead-no, wait…send Danger. I need you here to help me with her." Ash's thoughts were as scattered as he took off the girl's shoes and patted her down with care, favoring his left hand. Alexion grabbed his wrist and looked at the bite.

"Boss, you need to get that bandaged. If she is Arithian, then you need to get the anti-venom soon." Ash jerked his hand back.

"There is no anti-venom. As long as her heart beats in her chest, I won't die…at least, that's in theory." Acheron earned a look that clearly said what Alexion was really thinking. "I know! I know! Theories aren't fact but Arithians have been demolished down to her and that means that there is no anti-venom."

Alexion help Acheron take off anything she didn't need. Her coroner assistant badges, her watch, her long sleeved thermal shirt, her cropped sleeve scrub shirt, her shoes, her hair tie, her glasses and her necklace were all taken off but Ash's eyes froze on the gold bracelet on the girl's slender wrist. He knew the ancient Lunarian words scrawled on the smooth surface.

"…'For Thou Hath Committed Crimes Against Humanity In His Unholy Name, Thou Art Forbidden To Be Worthy Of Her Light'…" The Atlantean read in disbelief. "Alexion, check her left hip. Look for a crescent on its back and 10 small starbursts."

"Right." Alexion gently moved the girl on her side and lifted the black tank top she wore up to see what Ash had been looking for. "I see the crescent and…1 starburst. What does it mean?"

"It means that she did something very wrong in order to do something very right." Acheron had heard stories of an evil warrior using the Darkness to preserve the Light. But he had never thought they were true. After all, for someone with a black heart to betray their Master to serve under the enemy was only done once. After that betrayal, any others thinking of the same thing were destroyed instantly.

"What happens if that last starburst goes?" Alex asked now that they were on the subject. Acheron was seeing how badly his blood had spread in her arms.

"The crescent will glow and she'll, in a sense, self destruct but it's more like smashing her power together in a way that it can't conform and it destroys her body, mind and soul." The Atlantean ran his fingers over a spot on her forearm while he held her hand gently in his. "Arithians could come back from a lot but not that. They're like Apollites and Daimons in a way. While they live, their beautiful, sexy and deadly with very little to believe in but believing in it without wavering. When they die, they can come back as foul smelling creatures with acidic blood called 'Daiba'. They have to eat flesh in order to keep their bodies together."

"And the source of zombies comes to light at long last." The Greek Shade teased the Atlantean Dark Hunter, getting a smirk. "What are you doing?"

Ash smiled lopsidedly. "I've got this theory running through my mind. You know the stories of the war between the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the Gates of Hell?" Alexion nodded slowly. "Well, the Gates were broken into four and given Gatekeepers. These Gatekeepers were women of power and to get their Gate, a Horseman would have to take her Soul Stone. The problem was that to protect their Gate, they could take the Soul Stone of the Horseman pursuing her Gate."

"You're starting to lose me, boss." He warned, not seeing the point.

"Sorry. The thing is that the only way to open the Gate was to be a Hellguard, the combination of a Horseman and a Gatekeeper. And the only way to become a Hellguard was to absorb the Soul Stone of the opposite." Acheron apologized, catching his Defender up on the legends. "There were, in turn, 4 Hellguards but only one of those 4 was the Hellguard of Armageddon. And that Hellguard was made up of the Horseman of Destruction-the 4 Horseman in one and the Gatekeeper of Creation, the combined 4 ladies. Still with me?"

"I'm honestly trying." Alexion nodded. "So, let me get this straight. 4 Gates of Hell, 4 Gatekeepers, 4 Horsemen, 4 Hellguards, 8 Soul Stones-assuming each one had one-and yet there are 3 Master positions. The Gatekeepers are women and the Horsemen are portrayed as men but they're opposites who try to steal the Soul Stone of the other instead of working together. Which makes no sense whatsoever."

Acheron laughed at Alexion's reaction. "It didn't make sense to me when Savitar told me either. But he kept telling me to rethink the wording. The word 'opposite' is used so often that it's absolute and that means if the Horsemen wear black and evil-which every story says they do, then the Gatekeepers wear white and goodness. And then you have to factor in their personal colors, weapons, powers, the Gates and wherever they're all from because none of them are from the same place but they all live in a mutual world or culture."

Alexion could feel Acheron was trying to get his power to do something as he knew that Acheron was also trying to give him some background information but Alexion couldn't honestly see the point. What did it have to do with the girl? Unless…

"Are you thinking that she's a Gatekeeper?" He said getting his master to look up and nod with an honest look on his face. "Then what are you looking for?"

"Gatekeepers have an Alpha on their right forearms. The legends say that the sign bleeds on to the skin with the sensation of being pricked by many needles. And that they always show when the Horsemen are around." Ash answered. "And I'm trying to stimulate the area where it's supposed to be so we can see the damn mark but it's being stubborn."

"Boss, perhaps if we can get an antidote for the poison-" Alexion put his hand on the girl's left forearm and a shock was delivered to both men. They jerked their hands back and exchanged very curious and shocked looks. "What was that?"

"I have no idea." Those weren't the words Alexion wanted to hear from the Atlantean-EVER. It wasn't good when he said those words. "Ias, look-the mark came up. Damn, it's purple. That means she's the Gatekeeper of the Tombs of Silence."

"This one's black." Alexion looked at her left forearm. "Black omega, what does that mean?"

"It means that she absorbed the Horseman of Death." Ash looked at the black mark. "She's the Hellguard of Oblivion. Gods above, I poisoned the Hellguard of Oblivion."

"They all have names?" The Greek Shade asked skeptically. "Where is all this written? Savitar should have told you that much."

"Oh, he did. But it's not written down anywhere. He was told by one of the Gatekeepers but he never knew which one. She was in a white cloak and kept it up the entire time they spoke." Acheron nodded as he brushed the girl's hair out of her face. "I'm going to need leaves from the Tree of Life in Kalosis. It'll be the only way to save her. Get Kat to get them and then go get that ferret you mentioned earlier."

"Otto has it. He went to go check on Francis's 2 underlings for him and found the ferret in the locker." Alexion got a look of pure shock. "What's wrong?"

"Francis works in a morgue and I chased a daimon into a morgue. The daimon killed one of them but she was going to…give me her tag!" Acheron ordered. Alexion gave him the girl's badge. He looked at the photo and information. "Tomoe, Hotaru…Assistant Medical Examiner. Fuck. She's one of Francis's assistants and the other one had his brains splattered all over the wall behind him for saving her. Dammit! I can't believe I let that happen!"

"As much as I understand how pissed at yourself you are, can I remind you of Ms. Tomoe's dwindling life force?" Alexion reminded. "What are you going to do?"

Acheron ran his hands through his hair as he pushed his tired brain to think. He tried to figure out what he had for options. But his mind only came up with one answer again and again. He didn't like it but it seemed like he had no choice.

"…I've got to let her die…"

Alexion looked at him. "Excuse me? You're going to let the last of an ancient race die when you could do something?"

"I'm going to let her body die and then I'm going to use the leaves from the Tree of Life to heal it. She'll wake up a little stiff and unused to her body but that's the way it has to be done." Acheron elaborated. "The leaves'll need to be made into a tea. She'll be talking in a different language for a while and you might not know what she's saying half the time but this is the only way this'll work."

"Whatever you say, boss." Alexion nodded, leaving Ash alone. Acheron stroked Hotaru's hair out of her face and then stepped back to await her death.

* * *

**Acheron:** I don't care WHAT Sasuke says--you're fucking EVIL!

I have NOT slept with Orochimaru or Stryker! I'm a one Kazekage kinda girl.

**Acheron:** (words click) Your mind's in the gutter.

(Sticks tongue out) You're just jealous b/c I wanted your brother an not you.


End file.
